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Lexie took a drink, then looked up at the ceiling as if she was giving it some thought. As if she didn’t have it already worked out in her pretty little head. “We were star-crossed lovers. Fate was against us. My father is the Chinooks coach and you played for the Penguins. We didn’t believe it would work out and we didn’t have enough faith in our love.” She returned her gaze to his and smiled. “I was so heartbroken when we broke up, I acted too impulsively. You didn’t know I’d signed on to do Gettin’ Hitched, and I didn’t know you accepted the trade to Seattle so you could be near me.”
That was so sappy and really did make him look like a nancy-pants. “Let me guess, I got ahold of you before you could walk down the aisle and declared my undying love.”
Her grin got bigger. “Isn’t it romantic?”
The little dog lifted her head and placed her nose on his shoulder. He got a strange whiff of corn chips and roses as her beady eyes stared at him through the part in her hair. He figured both owner and dog were pushing him to see how far he’d let them go. “As romantic as a slap shot to the groin.”
“I prefer Romeo and Juliet.”
For now, he’d let Lexie think she had him by the short and curlies because it was to his advantage for people—specifically his teammates—to think they’d known each other before she’d ended up in Sandspit with him. It was to his advantage for her father to believe he had feelings for her beyond irritation. And lust. Lust and irritation were an odd combination he’d never felt for a woman. Usually it was one or the other. If he could tamp down the lust and use the irritation, he could work it
to his advantage. “Romeo and Juliet killed themselves.”
“The good news is that you don’t have to drink poison and I don’t have to stab myself.”
If he played out this charade, he’d probably want to kill her. Or himself, he thought as he folded his arms across his chest.
She took his silence for acquiescence. “It’ll all be painless, I promise.” She returned her beer to the table, and her ponytail fell over one shoulder.
“What about your father?”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“No.” He couldn’t let John think he was a pussy more than he already did. “I’ll talk to him.”
“We’ll talk to him and my mother.” She straightened and turned toward him, her eyes still shiny with victory.
“Before a word of this goes public.” He glanced at the dog licking the shoulder of his navy blazer like he’d dropped food on it.
“No problem.” She stood as if her proposition was a done deal. “I’ll get a notepad and we can outline terms.”
She could outline all she wanted, but that meant nothing to him. “Hold on there.” She didn’t exactly have the best track record when it came to schemes. “I have one condition before I even start to consider your plan.”
“What is that?”
“And it isn’t up for negotiation.” He stood and stared down into her deep blue eyes.
“Okay.”
“No shit storms.”
“No problem.”
He watched her turn and walk across the room. “Just relax,” she said over her shoulder. “We’ll work it all out beforehand. I have a plan.”
“No offense, but I don’t trust you to plan anything for me.”
“I’m an excellent planner,” she said as she opened a kitchen drawer. “I learned to outline for term papers and business plans at Kent State.”
He didn’t know she’d gone to Kent State, but he didn’t know much about her.
“It’s kind of my thing.” She took out a notebook and a pen. “We need to plan different scenarios in order to mitigate risk,” she said as she walked toward him.
His gaze slid from the top of her blond hair and down her pretty face. The only scenario he wanted to work out was putting his mouth on her lips and running his hands all over her body, but not bad enough to mess up his career with the Chinooks. Sex with any woman wasn’t worth that, but especially not with Lexie. She was beautiful and tasted sweet. A beautiful, sweet package that tempted a man to take a risk, even when he knew it was bound to blow up in his face.
Chapter 10
•no love lost; no love found
